Nokia (NOK) just turned a quiet corner of the data center market into center stage, securing yet another “Leader” and “Outperformer” badge from GigaOm—and this time, the spotlight is brighter thanks to NVIDIA (NVDA) writing a billion‑dollar endorsement check. Together, the two are positioning themselves as the power duo of AI‑era networking: Nokia building the highways, NVIDIA supplying the supercars.
Nokia’s Fifth GigaOm Win: Quiet Challenger, Loud Results
Nokia has been named a Leader and Outperformer in GigaOm’s Radar Report for data center switching for the fifth consecutive year, underscoring its momentum in a market long dominated by incumbent networking giants. The recognition highlights Nokia’s data center fabric as highly reliable, scalable, and tailored for cloud and AI workloads, with strengths in automation, operations, and energy efficiency.
GigaOm’s analysts point to Nokia’s breadth of hardware—from 1 GbE up to 800 GbE platforms—as well as its ability to integrate into heterogeneous environments, making it a pragmatic choice for operators modernizing without ripping and replacing legacy gear. For investors, five straight years of leader‑status shifts Nokia’s data center story from “interesting side business” to “durable competitive position” in high‑growth AI infrastructure.
Data Center Fabric Built for the AI Age
Nokia’s data center fabric solution is designed to handle the explosion of east‑west traffic and latency‑sensitive workloads that define AI and cloud‑native architectures. The portfolio includes high‑density spine and leaf platforms in the 7250 IXR and 7220 IXR series, as well as the 7215 IXS for resilient out‑of‑band management, giving hyperscalers and enterprises a full stack of switching options.
Operationally, GigaOm cites Nokia’s strong scores in failover handling, traffic rerouting, troubleshooting, and disaster recovery—traits that become non‑negotiable when AI clusters cost more than small office buildings. When paired with AI‑driven features and NetOps‑friendly automation, the platform positions Nokia as a credible infrastructure backbone for training and deploying AI models at scale.
NVIDIA’s Billion‑Dollar Bet on Nokia
NVIDIA is not just a technology partner; it is becoming a major shareholder, committing a $1 billion investment in Nokia at a subscription price of approximately $6.01 per share. The deal is wrapped inside a broader strategic partnership to embed NVIDIA‑powered, commercial‑grade AI‑RAN products into Nokia’s radio access network portfolio, enabling AI‑native 5G‑Advanced and 6G deployments.
As part of the collaboration, Nokia will accelerate the availability of its 5G and 6G RAN software on NVIDIA’s CUDA platform and will integrate NVIDIA’s AI‑optimized compute, including the Arc Aerial RAN Computer, directly into its next‑generation AI‑RAN solutions. Early trials are expected in the 2026 timeframe, with broader commercial availability targeted for the latter part of the decade, signalling a long runway of joint innovation.
From Data Center to AI‑RAN: A Full‑Stack Ambition
Nokia’s growing reputation in data center switching complements its push into AI‑RAN, effectively extending its influence from the core data center out to the mobile edge. By standardizing on NVIDIA platforms for AI‑native RAN and aligning its fabric solution to AI‑heavy workloads, Nokia is attempting what amounts to an end‑to‑end infrastructure play for the AI economy.
The partnership is already drawing marquee ecosystem partners: Dell Technologies is providing PowerEdge servers to power the new AI‑RAN solutions, while T‑Mobile U.S. is working with Nokia and NVIDIA on integrating AI‑RAN into its 6G development process. Nokia’s leadership has framed the collaboration as “putting an AI data center in everyone’s pocket,” a pithy way of describing a network that can process intelligence from the core to the edge in real time.
Why This Matters for the AI Infrastructure Race
For investors watching the AI infrastructure stack, the Nokia–NVIDIA story blends three themes that typically move markets: repeatable technical leadership, visible ecosystem buy‑in, and substantial capital commitment. Five consecutive GigaOm “Leader and Outperformer” designations help validate Nokia’s pivot from legacy telecom hardware to AI‑ready data center fabric, while NVIDIA’s $1 billion investment and joint AI‑RAN roadmap add a strategic growth vector that reaches well beyond traditional switching.
In a market where AI often sounds like marketing copy, this pairing is unusually tangible: silicon, switches, servers, and spectrum all lining up in one industrial‑grade thesis. For the AI era’s networking backbone, Nokia is no longer just connecting calls—it is increasingly connecting the models that will define the next leg of digital growth.
The Sources
[1] Nokia earns GigaOm Leader and Outperformer ranks for Data … https://www.nokia.com/newsroom/nokia-earns-gigaom-leader-and-outperformer-ranks-for-data-center-switching-solution/
[2] GigaOm names Nokia “Leader” and “Outperformer” in Data … https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/gigaom-names-nokia-leader-outperformer-070000467.html
[3] Nokia partners with Nvidia https://www.nokia.com/newsroom/nokia-partners-with-nvidia/
[4] NVIDIA Invests $1B In Nokia to Influence AI-RAN – 650 Group https://650group.com/blog/nvidia-invests-1b-in-nokia-to-influence-ai-ran/
[5] Sovereign AI data center networks | Nokia.com https://www.nokia.com/data-center-networks/sovereign-ai/
[6] NVIDIA to Invest $1B in Nokia to Accelerate AI-RAN Innovation https://www.telecompetitor.com/nvidia-to-invest-1b-in-nokia-to-accelerate-ai-ran-innovation/
[7] Nokia leads GigaOm Data Centre Switching Report for fourth year https://www.intelligentdatacentres.com/2025/04/07/nokia-leads-gigaom-data-centre-switching-report-for-fourth-year/
[8] Dynatrace Named a Leader and an Outperformer in 2025 GigaOm … https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dynatrace-named-leader-outperformer-2025-133000009.html
[9] Forward Networks Named Outperformer in the 2025 GigaOm Radar … https://www.forwardnetworks.com/blog/press-release/forward-networks-named-outperformer-in-the-2025-gigaom-radar-for-network-validation-for-the-fourth-consecutive-year/
[10] Forward Networks Named Outperformer in the 2025 GigaOm Radar … https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/forward-networks-named-outperformer-in-the-2025-gigaom-radar-for-network-validation-for-the-fourth-consecutive-year-302643065.html
[11] Nokia ranked as Leader and Outperformer yet again in the … – Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Nok/comments/1iu2hs3/nokia_ranked_as_leader_and_outperformer_yet_again/
[12] Nokia recognized by GigaOm as innovation leader and … https://www.nokia.com/newsroom/nokia-recognized-by-gigaom-as-innovation-leader-and-outperformer-in-the-data-center-switching-market-for-second-consecutive-year/
[13] Microsoft named Leader and Outperformer in the 2025 … https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-named-leader-and-outperformer-in-the-2025-gigaom-radar-for-semantic-layers-metric-stores/
[14] Cohesity ranked a Leader and Outperformer for 2025 GigaOm … https://www.cohesity.com/blogs/2025-gigaom-radar-unstructured-data-management-leader-and-outperformer/
[15] GigaOm Radar for EDR Leader & Outperformer https://www.watchguard.com/wgrd-resource-center/report-gigaom-2025
